I'll Be Home For Christmas
by polgara-5
Summary: A Christmas tree is not a real Christmas tree until it’s decorated. Buffy’s is sadly still just a tree as she waits for someone to come home.


**Title:** I'll Be Home For Christmas

**By:** Polgara PG

**Disclaimer:** I own none of the characters in this fic. Nor do I own any of the songs or TV specials mentioned.

**Spoilers:** Vague for all seasons of Buffy. Slight spoilers for season nine of Stargate SG-1.

**Summary:** A Christmas tree is not a real Christmas tree until it's decorated. Buffy's is sadly still just a tree as she waits for someone to come home.

**A/N:** This was written for all of the lovely people on my yahoo list. I gave them options and they set my parameters for this fic. Those will be listed at the end of the fic. Merry Christmas/Happy Hanukkah/Happy Kwanzaa/Happy Holidays to everyone!

**A/N2:** Not betad and finished at the last minute so please excuse any mistakes!

I'll Be Home For Christmas 

_December 23, 2005, 7:30 p.m. _

Buffy turned the light on in her dark house as she entered. Her keys made the only sound in the dimly lit hallway as she set them on a small table. Work had lasted far longer than she had planned, but it wasn't like she had anything to come home to. It had been two weeks and her boyfriend of only several months was still missing in action.

She had always known that dating an Air Force Colonel who worked on a top-secret project like the Stargate carried this risk, but she didn't think it would happen this early in the relationship. She had only just got adjusted to the fact that she was happy with him and now this happened.

The blonde turned on a small lamp that sat on an end table in her living room and the scant light chased back some of the shadows. She sighed as she looked at the tree standing in one corner of the room. It was sadly undecorated. The last thing she and Cameron had done before he had left on his most recent mission was buying the tree and set it up. He promised her that when he got back they'd decorate it together. But his two-day mission turned into three and then four and eventually two weeks with no word from him or the rest of SG-1.

She refused to decorate the tree because deep down she felt that if she did, it would be akin to admitting that he wasn't coming home and she wasn't ready for that yet. She knew that the longer he was gone the greater the chance of him not coming back, but her heart stubbornly hold on to hope.

Looking at what she had once thought was going to be a beautiful tree, she felt that it was now just pitiful. A Christmas tree without decorations was just a plain, dying tree that had been torn from its home. Much like Cameron had been torn from his when he and SG-1 had been captured.

With a sigh she picked up the card she had received that day and opened it. A faint smile graced her lips as she saw the reindeer in overalls on the front. She opened it up to reveal Dawn's scrawling handwriting.

_Dear Buffy, _

_I know you said it was ok for me to spend Christmas in England, but that doesn't mean I'm not missing you like crazy. I hope you and Cameron have a great Christmas together and I can't wait to meet him on New Year's Eve. _

_Love, _

_Dawn_

Buffy wiped the tears off her cheeks knowing that she and Cameron were not going to be spending the holidays together. She didn't have the heart to call Dawn and tell her what happened. At least one of them deserved to have the Christmas they wanted.

Her hazel eyes wearily looked over at the clock on her mantel and were surprised to see it was after eleven. She turned off the light and trudged up the stairs to her room.

XXXXXXXXX 

_December 24, 2005, 5:00 a.m_.

Lieutenant Colonel Cameron Mitchell grunted in pain as he hit the ground, jostling his already battered body. The staff blast meant for him, hit another Jaffa instead. What had only been intended as an intel seeking mission to see if PX5-978 had fallen to the Ori had turned out to be more complicated. Not only had the planet fallen, but the Jaffa there were as fiercely loyal to the Ori as they had been to their former false god. If the Ori kept this pace up, there would be few systems left that hadn't fallen under their influence in this galaxy by this time next year. That fact saddened and angered him. As long as he lived, he didn't think he'd ever truly understand why some people couldn't accept those who were different from them.

All he wanted to do now was get his team back safely through the gate so he could go home to Buffy. His slayer. Someone who was different from every woman he had ever met. He had never imagined that when General O'Neill had assigned him as the SGC's liaison to the Colorado Springs branch of the New Watcher's Council, that he would have fallen for the oldest living slayer. But he thanked his lucky star that he had.

Daniel's voice could be heard overtop of the firefight around them. "Mitchell! Are you okay?"

"Just peachy, Jackson," he replied as he fired a zat he had managed to steal off a Jaffa. He hit the one who had just shot at him. "Just want to get back home in time to catch my favorite Christmas special."

"Which one would that be?" Sam asked from beside him.

"I've always been partial to the Charlie Brown Christmas."

"Really?" She said, firing off two quick shots from her zat. "I like the Disney Christmas. Especially the snowball fight between Donald and his nephews."

Cameron chuckled. "That is a good one. Think they'll have milk and cookies waiting for us back on base?"

She grinned brightly at him. "Probably, and turkey, too."

"Mmm mmm, my favorite."

"As is mine," Teal'c said, killing the last Jaffa in their vicinity.

XXXXXXXXX 

_December 24, 2005, 10:00 p.m. _

Buffy watched the falling snow from inside the warmth of her house. Her face was pressed against the cold pane of glass as she let the soft stillness of the snow permeate her. Having grown up in southern California, she hadn't seen a lot of snow in her life, so every time she did it was a wonder. It made everything look pristine and peaceful – everything that he life wasn't at the moment. It caused her somber mood to sink even deeper. She had a feeling that Cameron would be the type to have impromptu snowball fights while building a snowman in the yard.

With a heavy sigh, she pushed away from the serene scene and turned her back on it. In effort to distract herself, she turned the radio on.

_I want a Hippopotamus for Christmas _

_Only a Hippopotamus will do. _

_Don't want a doll, or a dinky Tinker Toy _

_I want a Hippopotamus to play with and enjoy._

Buffy rolled her eyes at the inane song coming over the airwaves. If Dawn were here, she'd turn the radio up full blast and sing along. It was her sister's favorite Christmas song, although only god knew why. She reached out and changed the station several times before she found one that wasn't playing Christmas music.

_Though I know I'll never lose affection _

_For people and things that went before _

_I know I'll often stop and think about them _

_In my life, I love you more _

Realizing that the Beatles weren't helping either, she turned the radio off causing the house to fall silent once again. She closed her eyes as she decided that this was the worse Christmas ever. Even worse than the one they had spent under the fearful shadow of the First. At least then she had had her friends and sister beside her. Of course, it was her fault for deciding to stay in Colorado instead of joining the others in England.

Things had just been so hectic that she really didn't want to endure a plane trip overseas, but instead, to relax at home. Only now she wasn't relaxing, she was spending her time either worrying about Cameron or working so she wouldn't be worrying.

She knew that she was just exercising useless actions; she turned off the lights and went to bed – hoping against hope that tomorrow would be a better day.

XXXXXXXX 

_December 25, 2005, 7:00 a.m. _

Buffy's eyes blinked in the sunlight streaming through her window while she tried to figure out what had awakened her. Inhaling deeply she recognized the heavenly scent of coffee in the air and she relished the normalcy of it. Suddenly, she sat up in bed remembering that she hadn't set the coffeemaker the night before.

The only person she knew who would be crazy enough to try and wake a slayer up at seven in the morning was her sister. Dawn must have changed her mind about spending Christmas in England and came home at the last minute to surprise her.

Grumbling to herself on the crazy antics of her sister, she staggered out of bed and slid her feet into her pig slippers. Dawn had gotten them for her the Christmas before and they were nearly an identical match to Buffy's old stuffed pig, Mr. Gordo.

As she made her way downstairs, strains of her favorite carol could be heard.

_Now to the Lord sing praises all you within this place, _

_And with true love and brotherhood each other now embrace; _

_This holy tide of Christmas all others doth deface. _

_O tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy; _

_O tidings of comfort and joy._

It did little, however, to relive her sadness and it couldn't ease the pain in her heart.

The petite slayer noticed a strange glow coming from her living room and she headed there first. Her jaw dropped open as she stopped in the middle of the room to look around. Sometime during the night the tree had been fully decorated and candy canes, her favorite candy, hung off of nearly every branch. It was every bit as beautiful as she had imagined it would be. Presents had been wrapped and placed under the tree. She even recognized the presents she had wrapped and then stored in the hallway closet mixed in with the unfamiliar ones.

A roaring fire dance merrily in the fireplace and two stocking hung on the mantle above it. One had the name Buffy written in green on it and the other had Cam written in red. The entire room had been transformed without her hearing a sound.

Shell shocked, she could only gape in surprise. Two strong arms slid around her waist from behind and a familiar voice whispered in her ear, "Merry Christmas, Buffy."

She gasped and turned around in the arms to see Cameron smiling down at her. An ugly bruise covered his left jaw and there was a small cut above his right eye. "You're back," she said in a hush tone. She was almost afraid that saying it would cause him and everything else to disappear.

"Wouldn't miss this for the world. I told you I'd be here for Christmas." He leaned down and said in a mischievous tone, "I'm glad you hadn't decorated the tree. It's my favorite part."

Tears of joy streamed down Buffy's face as she threw her arms around him and held him close. "I was so worried," she sobbed. "All they could tell me was that you hadn't reported back as ordered and that until they knew what was going on they wouldn't send backup. I tried to talk Landry into letting me go but he wouldn't. He kept saying it was an SGC problem not a slayer one. What happened?" She asked finally, gently touching the bruise that marred his handsome face.

"We were ambushed," he said, ignoring the pain from his injuries. "It took a while to organize an escape."

"When did you get back?"

"At about two in the afternoon yesterday," he said with a small smirk.

She scowled at him and slapped him lightly on the arm. "And you didn't call?"

"Between being medically cleared by Dr. Lam and a debriefing with the General, I didn't have a spare moment until midnight. Then it was too late to call, so I thought I'd surprise you with the gifts I had already bought. I let myself in with the emergency key you had given me and saw that you had never decorated. And a Christmas tree is not a true Christmas tree without lights, decorations, and tinsel so I fixed it. And here we are."

Buffy grinned sappily at him. "You are the sweetest man ever." Then she reached up on tiptoes to place her lips on his. He pulled her body flush with his and deepened the kiss. When they broke apart, they were both panting.

"I missed you," he said in a husky voice. "I thought of nothing else but coming back to you while I was out there. Of holding you."

Tears welled up in her eyes as she played with the short hairs on the nape of his neck. "And you made it," she whispered happily.

"Oh, and there's one more thing," he said pulling back.

"What?" She curiously asked. "You've done so much already."

"Ah, but I was told this was a prerequisite for a true Buffy Christmas. But forgive me if I don't get it right." He took a few steps back and then moved in what could only be described as the Snoopy dance.

The room brightened with her laughter as she clapped enthusiastically. "Perfect. You're no Xander, but you'll do," she said, pulling him close once again.

finis

My list voted and decided on the following:

A Buffy/Cameron Mitchell fic

Early in a relationship

A Romance/Action fic (which ended up being way more angsty than I had intended, but couldn't seem to stop it)

Had to include the four items: Snow, Candy Cane, Fire, and turkey

In addition, I also included the following items that had also received votes: Tree, Card, Lights, Decorations, Presents, Stocking, Cookies, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, In My Life by the Beatles, TV, and the Snoopy Dance.

I know that the Hippopotamus song is not well known. You can hear the song at the following website: http / www newbie net/Christmas/Hippo/ Just make sure to collapse the address and add the appropriate periods.


End file.
